in other instances the diminutive prefix replaces the noun class prefix. Class 14 contains non-count nouns and abstract nouns that do not have a plural counterpart. The nouns of class 14 which do have plural counterparts are found in either class 6 or class 10. Verb-auxiliary order Rangi has come to the attention of linguists due to a number of features it exhibits which are unusual for Bantu languages. Included in this is the verb-auxiliary ordering found in two tenses in the languages. In the immediate future and general future tense, the auxiliary appears after the verb in declarative main clauses. This order is unusual from a comparative and typological perspective, since East African Bantu languages exhibit predominantly auxiliary-verb order and SVO languages are expected to exhibit auxiliary-verb order. This unusual word order is also found in the neighbouring Mbugwe language, spoken in the Babati region. Phonology Rangi has a seven-vowel system, with a single low vowel and phonemically contrasting front-back pairs at three heights. The vowels are [a], [ɛ], [i], [ɪ], [ɔ], [u] and [ʊ]. Rangi has phonemic vowel length alternation with a distinction attested between long and short vowels. Rangi also exhibits asymmetric vowel height harmony. There is little distinction between and , but the two are not quite in complementary distribution. For instance, is usually found before , but there is a single attested word with before , and so they are judged to be distinct phonemes. The name is usually pronounced with an R, but the endonym is an L: References Languages of Tanzania Mbugwe-Rangi languages